A Colour Orange

One of my grandsons is afflicted with a love for the colour orange. Why do I say afflicted? Well, if he visits Israel in today’s police-state climate, he might not be permitted to enter. At the very least, he would be subject to forceful questioning about his love for that colour, which, according to the simple-minded police mentality now prevalent, clearly signifies support for the Jews of Yesha, and opposition to disengagement.

I say this because of what happened to members of the group that recently came to Israel with Dov Hikind. Mr. Hikind is apparently an Assemblyman from the State of New York. Reputedly, he is also a staunch supporter of the State of Israel. Thus he assembled some 40 New Yorkers, including Supreme Court Justices, educators, and business people, all of whom came to Israel at their own expense to show solidarity with the inhabitants of Yesha.

Now the purpose of the trip was no secret. Indeed publicity was the point of the exercise. On arrival the vast majority of the group was unceremoniously taken to an interrogation area and subjected to questioning which was clearly intended to intimidate. Passports were seized, and the police lied to them by telling them that Gush Katif, where they were intending to go to show solidarity, was a closed military area. When one woman spoke up to ask why she was being honoured with such a display of heavy-handedness, she was informed that the orange t-shirt she was wearing clearly branded her as a person who was against disengagement. Hence my concern about my grandson’s affliction.

Are these guys for real? The group came for the express purpose of showing solidarity with the inhabitants of Yesha, and to voice their disapproval of Sharon’s disengagement lunacy. In a democracy the concept of l’etat c’est moi does not exist. The people are free to express their opinions, and those who agree with them are free to demonstrate that agreement.

I realize the members of the New York group were probably not Israeli citizens. But they are the people to whom Israel turns for support in times of need. And they are clearly Jews who love Israel and the Jewish people. Just because Aipac will not permit anti-disengagement voices to be heard, does not mean that there are not large numbers of North American Jews opposed to disengagement. They are just as entitled to be heard, both in and out of Israel, as are the so called ‘leaders of the Jewish community’. And the latter are not really leaders at all. Rather, they are a collection of followers falling into step behind the dictates of a formerly great general, now a wholly befuddled and anti-democratic Prime Minister.

This past Saturday we read the special Maftir, Zachor, which is read annually before the festival of Purim. It is an obligation on every Jew to hear this reading, to remember it, and, as best he can, to try and achieve its fulfillment. We are told to remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people on their way out of Egypt. We must never forget, and we are commanded to wipe out the memory of Amalek. Was Sharon in the synagogue to hear the reading? Did any of his anti-democratic minions hear it?

They have another chance to learn the lesson. Thursday evening and Friday morning they can hear another reading, Megillat Esther, in which the lesson is basically the same. But somehow I don’t think they’ll be there.

On the other hand, I think a good many of Hikind’s group heard Zachor. They will likely hear the Megillah. But they got the point long ago; they remember, and they want others to remember as well.

As I write this I am looking at a painting of Queen Esther that my wife did in 1979. It so happens that the Queen is dressed in orange. More and more I’m beginning to like that colour.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

If we disregard the spin doctors, and overlook the mendacious statements of the parties, it is clear that Abu Mazen's negotiations with the 13 terrorist factions have failed. This, of course, is no great surprise, as they were never intended to succeed. Simple window dressing to continue the pretence.

The obligation of the PA is to disarm the terrorist organizations. That is what they committed to in the Oslo Accords, and again in the Road Map. That is the first step, the sine qua non, without which nothing can happen. But Abu Mazen has said often and publicly, both during the election campaign and afterwards, that he has no intention of moving against the terrorists. And so the only purpose served by the meeting between the 13 factions and the terrorist-in-chief was to create window dressing.

Israel Radio carried the following statement by Abu Mazen: "The Palestinian agreement is important and serious and it will ... give the peace process a chance to move forward."

Clearly the agreement is "important". But only to the PA, as it permits the PA to continue the fiction that it will fight terror and the terrorists. But the reality is that there is not even a hudna, there is just some ephemeral concept of calm, capable of being broken, without notice, at any time. I guess it is like a time-out in sports: an opportunity to catch your breath, get new instructions from the coach, then take up the battle once again.

I was troubled by the use of the word "serious". But on reflection I think he inserted it in the comment in order to forestall the outcries that would start with: ARE YOU SERIOUS? Because that is the only sensible question to be asked when the terms of the agreement are grasped. The calm is not only ephemeral, but is subject to such nonsensical conditions as the release of all prisoners. ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Abu Mazen goes on to talk about a "peace process". What peace process? There never was, and there never will be, a peace process until the thirteen bands of killers are fully disarmed and shunned by all those who truly seek peace. That does not mean coopting the killers to the PA security forces. There is no point in relieving them of their present ordinance, just to issue them new, or even the same, ordinance, and calling them members of the security forces. All the more so when we recall that the lynch mob that brutally killed two Israeli reservists was to a large extent composed of members of the PA security forces.

I also find it interesting that Abu Mazen has two names. This nome de guerre, and the name given him at birth, Mahmoud Abbas. Under the latter name, as the elected President of the PA he speaks out of one side of his mouth, mouthing platitudes designed to hide his true intentions. Under the former name he mouths the true venom of his position, the incitement that will inevitably lead to more death and devastation.

Peace process indeed. If he really wants to set off on such a process he must take the first step to which he has obligated himself. Disarm the terrorists, stop them in their tracks. Peace will follow as day does night.

That is, if he is serious.